Why Steve Leonard Liked Valentine's Day
by MoonlightDarkness321
Summary: Oh, how that Steve Leonard hated Valentine's Day! But... Perhaps this year would be different?
1. Part I

**_Why Steve Leonard Liked Valentine's Day_**

**I don't own _any_ of Mr. Shan's characters! **

**So, I've been kind of out of it... But, here is Part 1 of this!**

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><p>Steve Leonard hated many things. For the month of February, however, he hated Valentine's day.<p>

Oh, he hated it with such a passion! He loathed how everyone around him could be happy and find love while people would give him looks of sympathy and he'd sulk around in his room reading his many vampire comics.

To make things worse, his mother always brought a man over for that day.

Usually, he would go over to Darren's home whenever Valentine's Day came around but sometimes Darren would have a Valentine of his own.

Steve didn't know why, but whenever he'd see someone with Darren he would get extremely jealous.

It was ridiculous at times because he could be _very_ overprotective. One good example of that would be the time when a kid named Billy Isaacs pinned Darren to the wall and demanded for lunch money. Darren could have easily defended himself but Steve happened to be passing by at the time and he felt a strong urge to go help out the kid. Striding up to Billy, he gave him a good sock in the face, causing Darren to fall to the ground, and told Billy to scram!

Poor Darren was frightened but Steve smiled warmly and offered his hand to help him up.

Darren smiled back and took his hand. Ever since then, the two had been inseparable and they both had their very own obsessions. Steve's was vampires and Darren's was spiders. They both chatted frequently about these two topics and soon they saw each other like brothers. Or, at least Darren did.

Sometimes Steve wanted to be something _more _with him but he knew that he didn't.

Sighing, Steve checked his calendar to see how many more days until Valentine's Day.

'_Two more days. On Friday. Maybe I should call Darren in advance…'_ thought Steve.

He picked up the phone and dialed Darren trying to control his breathing and hoped that Darren wouldn't be busy that day.

"Hello?" said Mrs. Shan, making an effort not to sound irritated.

"Uhm.. Hello, Mrs. Shan. Can I speak to Darren?" he asked, trying to sound polite.

Darren's mother wasn't all too fond of Steve. She thought that he was a bad influence for her son and when he would call, she would lie to him and say that Darren was "busy". Luckily, this wasn't one of them.

"Of course, Steve. Let me get him." Mrs. Shan put a finger over the phone to block out any sound and went upstairs to knock on Darren's "Keep Out!" door.

"Honey, Steve is on the phone. Do you want to talk to him?" whispered Mrs. Shan.

Darren quickly got up from his bed and put down his comic book. He opened the door and nodded with a smile then took the phone from her hands. He enjoyed talking to Steve. He could be himself whenever the pair spoke. After all, he was his best friend!

Steve thought for a couple of seconds, pacing his bedroom, wondering what he would say to Darren.

"Hello?" came the familiar voice of Darren.

Steve smiled and instantly relaxed. Whenever he heard the voice of Darren he would feel a rush of calmness overcome him and it would usually give him a boost of confidence.

"Hey, Shan, I was wondering what you were going to do this Valentines Day weekend 'cause you know my mom… And I've got no where else to hang out, but if you're gonna be busy that day or during the weekend then I'll understand…" Steve trailed off.

"Um.. No, I don't think so.." Steve jumped up and down in the air but controlled himself to let Darren finish, "You can come over on that day if you want but, hey, I bought the sequel to 'Spider Webz' and it came with a poster of 'Slaying by Night' and I was wondering if you wanted it. It's pretty cool. It has that hot vampire on the cover."

Steve beamed and practically attacked the phone with "YES! THANK YOU!"s but he nonchalantly and ever-so-cooly said, "Sure. So I'll see you tomorrow at school, right?"

"Yeah, man. Can't wait until Friday. I was thinking of asking Susie out for the Valentine's dance. I think that she likes me and she's pretty hot." said Darren while tying his soccer shoes.

Steve clenched his fists. _Susie!_ _NO! _

Clearing his throat, he continued, "Oh, so you might be busy on Valentines Day?"

"Nah, I said that I'd hang out with you on that day and the dance is only, like, four hours long. You're going to the dance too though, right? Listen, I've got to go to soccer practice in five minutes. I'll see you at school tomorrow. Bye!" he clicked.

Steve looked out the window and whispered a soft 'Bye' even though Darren had already hung up.

_He said that he'd hang out with me on that day and the weekend_… Steve couldn't help it but a sudden smile appeared on his face.

But that smile didn't last long. His thoughts went back to Susie and the dance.

He was sure that if he asked Susie that she would say yes. Then what would happen? And what about the dance?

Steve wasn't too fond of dancing either but if Darren was going...

"This isn't going to end well." said Steve to himself while trying to pick out something decent to wear for the dance in two days.

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><p>'<em>So close. Come on, Darren, you've got this. One… Two… Three…' <em>Thought Steve.

Steve wasn't able to calm his nerves at home so he decided that a walk in the park would do him great wonders.

Then he remembered that Darren would be practicing at this very park, so he climbed on a tree and settled for watching him play soccer.

"GOOOAAALLL!" Shouted Darren while running around and cheering. "Wooo!" clapped and hurrahed his fellow team players.

It had been years since Steve played soccer and watching Darren play almost made him want to go over and start shooting some of his own goals!

The other team was clearly not amused and they scoffed as Darren flipped and screamed like a banshee. Steve chuckled and shook his head.

A rather good looking male named Nick ran up to Darren and put an arm around his shoulders. Nick grinned as Darren flushed vibrantly.

Steve frowned and looked at the pair. "What's going on?" murmured Steve.

After a couple of goals and fun games soccer practice was over and the two boys played a brisk game of soccer. They both just loved soccer and they couldn't get enough of it, it seemed.

Steve watched the two playing again. "Isn't practice over?" he grumbled from the tree.

Darren and Nick fought for the ball rascally and in one of Darren's kicking's they both fell and tumbled over each other.

Darren stumbled and eventually fell with Nick following his lead. Before they could realize what was happening, Nick landed on Darren softly.

Steve's breath caught in his throat. _Get OFF him!_

Nick gazed down at Darren. Suddenly, his eyes were filled with something that Darren could not describe. Nick, however, wanted nothing more than to lean in and kiss those soft kissable lips with passion and for Darren to return the kiss. Nick always had a thing for Darren but he was always too afraid to pursue. He thought that now was the time.

"What the…" mumbled Steve.

Darren looked back up at Nick and chuckled nervously.

"Uh… Heh, that kick was pretty hard, huh?" he said, trying not to sound edgy.

Nick nodded and smiled down at him.

Suddenly, Nick leaned in and just barely grazed his lips across Darren's when an infuriated Steve interrupted him.

"HEY! GET OFF OF HIM!" bellowed Steve. He grabbed Nick by the shoulders and pulled him off of Darren, tossing him aside easily to haul Darren to his feet.

"St-Steve!" stuttered Darren. _Where had he come from?_ Nick yelped as Steve pummeled against him and drove him towards the nearest tree.

Steve looked at Nick in the eyes with unexpected malice in those fiery orbs, "STAY AWAY FROM DARREN!"

Darren looked at Steve in shock. He had never seen Steve so angry before. He trudged to Steve and put a hand on his shoulder timidly.

"St…Steve… Leave Nick alone. He's m-my friend." Darren gulped and hoped that Steve wouldn't turn on him. The only thing that Steve heard were frantic mumbles.

Eventually, he glanced back at Darren and into his green frightened eyes, he let go of Nick. "Why, Darren?" he croaked.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Steve. Why are you here? Weren—?"

"NEVERMIND WHY I'M HERE! WHY WERE YOU KISSING THAT FOOL?" He said pointing towards Nick. Only, Nick wasn't there anymore. He had scrambled to his feet and ran off as soon as Steve let go of him.

"Oh, that BASTARD! I'm going to get him!" Steve got ready to start running after him.

"NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" screamed Darren. "Don't you DARE to hurt him! WE WERE ONLY PLAYING SOCCER! WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, STEVE?"

Steve looked at Darren and he shoved him, "SCREW YOU, SHAN." He brought up his fist but quickly lowered it when he caught his Darren's expression. His eyes were closed and his face resigned as if he'd been expecting it.

Steve turned around slowly and began to walk away. Darren stood there and watched Steve until he faded into the shadows of the night then made his way home in confusion.

_I want to kill him… How could he? Why didn't Darren stop him? _Were the phrases that went through Steve's head every time his mind wandered off to the park incident.

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><p>Sighing, Steve entered math class and sat at the back of the room near the window and doodled on his paper.<p>

Darren came into the class more than a bit timorous, and sat next to Steve. The bell rang and out of the corner of his eyes, Steve saw that Darren pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write furiously.

He only assumed that Darren was taking notes.

He could have been taking notes as well but Steve just wasn't cut out for school. He never liked it and he was sure that he never would.

Steve was in the middle of a fascinating doodle containing bloody stakes when a folded piece of paper landed on his desk. Darren caught Steve's eyes and smiled a bit then looked back at the board. Steve felt his heart skip a beat.

He opened up the letter and looked at the message inside.

_Steve, what's wrong? Why did you freak out like that at the park?_

He sneered silently and wrote back;

I thought that that guy was hurting you.

This was obviously a lie. He knew what the guy was trying or probably had done in the past. The thought of that made him clamp his fists. He handed over the note rigidly.

Darren opened the note almost instantly. He took a look at Steve, wrote what he had to say, then nodded briefly and handed him the note again.

_Oh. Sorry for screaming at you yesterday. I don't know what's gotten into Nick. I mean, he just kissed me yesterday and I don't know. It was unexpected. But he wasn't hurting me._

_Are you still coming over this weekend? I asked Susie to the dance and she said that she already had a date. I kind of don't want to go to the dance anymore but if you do, I can go with you and we can hangout. Unless if you're already going with another group of friends or something…_

Steve concealed a smile but on the inside he was bursting with excitement. Of course he could have just said 'No, I don't want to go to the dance either' but that wouldn't have answered his more pressing questions.

He flicked the note back to Darren casually and smirked as it spun then landed on his desk quietly, still looking at Darren for his reaction when he read the note.

Darren smiled while opening the note.

_Wasn't hurting you, eh? But he did kiss you. Why didn't you stop him?_

At this, Darren blushed. Just like Steve had predicted.

"What're you two doing back there?" asked Mr. Dalton.

"Shit" whispered Steve. Mr. Dalton walked down the aisle to where Steve and Darren were. "Sending love notes to each other?" The whole class laughed and Darren turned an even darker shade of red. He picked up the note and ripped it into tiny pieces.

"Aw, Mr. Dalton! Why didn't you read the note to us?" whined an obnoxious Tiffany. Darren glared at her.

Mr. Dalton shook his head and walked back to the front of the room. "No more notes. Next time I catch you, it's straight to the dean, got it?" Darren nodded like a good boy but Steve rolled his eyes.

"Now, class, who can tell me what number two is?" continued Mr. Dalton.

Steve began to zone out and soon enough, his thoughts returned to Darren.

Darren, however, thought about Nick. Steve was right. Why didn't he stop Nick? He was sure that he had no feelings for Nick in any shape or form. He was thankful that Nick didn't go to this school at least. That would've been terrible.

He also didn't feel anything when the two kissed. Weren't there supposed to be fireworks or something?

Yet, he felt so grateful when Steve defended him. Something about that made him feel warm and he didn't know what to call it, really.

Instead, he focused back on the lesson.

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><p><em>Friday. Finally!<em> Steve looked up at the ceiling and smiled. Today seemed like it would be a perfect day. He would be with Darren all weekend!

Pulling on a shirt with no care, he ran to his mother's room and knocked on the door calmly.

"What?" Came the voice of his mother from the other side of the door.

"Mom. I'm staying at Darren's this weekend, okay?" he said. His mother was usually grumpy during the mornings because she would almost always wake up with an extreme headache due to heavy drinking, but she simply muttered a 'Yeah. Whatever.'

Steve breathed out with minor annoyance but he picked up his backpack that was filled with some clothes, comic books, and schoolwork then headed out the door for school.

Steve walked up the steps and roamed into the hallway where his next class was. He didn't want to go to class because, unfortunately, he didn't have any classes with Darren during the mornings.

Class without Darren just seemed completely unnecessary.

_Oh! There goes the first bell. Better get t—Ah, Screw it. _

He went to his locker and dropped off his bag then headed up to the roof of the school. Students were usually allowed to hang out up there during lunch or after school but Steve went up there to think and reflect. Despite what people might've thought, he was actually a very profound person.

He sat near the edge of the building, overlooking the town.

And although he did have dark and morbid thoughts or did crazy things, he was still a good person.

The only person that would remind him of that was Darren.

Teachers would speak to his mother about him. "Steve isn't a good boy. He's done bad things to the students around him. He is a BULLY."

His mother simply brushed the comments away and continue with her flithy habits, leaving Steve to always feel like he had nothing to fall back on and knowing that he didn't and couldn't have the support of his mother.

But whenever Steve wanted to give into temptation of giving up, Darren would call him and suddenly, he was reminded of what was worth living for.

Steve shook his head and grumbled at himself. He hated getting so emotional or thinking of the past. It always made him feel sick and ridiculous.

Laughing at himself, he picked up a round pebble and dropped it from above, making sure that it landed in the small puddle below. The splash was tremendous and he saw people looking above, wondering what could've caused that.

He felt better already! And with that, he dusted his hands off with the help of his pants and started for the stairs where he heard a sharp yell of pain from below.

_What the?_

Steve practically ran down the stairs and headed to where the screaming was coming from. '_The boys bathroom…' _he thought.

He pushed the door open but it would not budge!

"AGH! LET ME GO!" Hissed a familiar voice… Was that? _Could it be? _No. That just could not be…

_DARREN?_

"STOP!"

Almost as if Darren's voice was the shot of energy that he needed, he pushed with all his might against the door, which finally opened.

Tumbling into the wall nearby, Steve nearly began to black out.

Luckily, the next scene ahead made Steve absolutely seethe with anger and quickly clear his head.

A male who appeared to be a couple of years older than the two boys was pinning Darren against the wall from what seemed to be against his will, and held his wrists on either side of him, smothering his neck with rough lips. He rubbed his leg against Darren's and he felt something heavy in his pockets, causing him to gasp.

They both swished their necks quickly when they heard the loud noise and looked at Steve.

Darren's eyes glazed over with happiness. '_Steve! THANK GOODNESS!' _ He cheered inside of his head. But that quickly died over when he soon realized the danger that this could've brought to Steve.

His eyes zoomed into the male's pockets and he very well knew what he had in there. A gun.

Almost as if he read Darren's mind, he reached for the gun and pointed it at Darren.

"Get out if you know what's best for you." His tone was demanding and Steve knew that the guy would not hesitate. But who was he?

Utilizing the gun to point at the door, "Go on."

"Let him go." Steve advanced and the man pressed the gun closer to Darren, causing him to flinch.

Steve could not let this go on. He wouldn't go down without a fight.

Lunging at the man rapidly, he seized his arm and twisted it savagely. The guy had clearly not been expecting that so he was taken by surprise but he quickly recovered and calculated to shove Steve away with the point of the gun while forgetting completely about Darren.

By good fortune, Darren made use of himself and soon, adrenaline was pumping through his veins.

He never felt anything like this before. No wonder Steve always picked fights with people!

The gush of vitality was mesmerizing and it made him feel invincible.

Kneeing the man in front of him, in a particularly sensitive area, he grabbed the weapon and tossed it aside.

Steve pushed the now weakened man into the nearest stall and shoved his head into the toilet.

He was shaking with rage. He touched _HIS _Darren. He took advantage of him! If Steve hadn't heard Darren crying out… If he'd gone to class...

He shook his head and focused on the man whose head was dunked in water. He wanted him to suffer for doing such things to Darren.

Looking over at the pair, Darren saw what Steve was doing and almost as quickly as his rush came, it abandoned him.

He couldn't let Steve kill the man. No matter how much damage he could've caused he would not allow his best friend to become a… Murderer.

The man seemed to stop struggling underneath Steve and there was a vindictive smile plastered onto his face.

Darren ran over to Steve and placed a hand on his shoulder. He knew that it was probably not wise to interrupt Steve when he was like this because he could just as easily turn to him, but he had to.

"Steve…" he whispered. "STEVE." Saying his name more clearly, Steve looked up into Darren's warm eyes.

Frowning, he glared at the man and back at Darren.

"What?"

"Stop, Steve. He's knocked out… Let's go before he wakes up." Darren murmured, nervously.

Steve shrugged Darren's hand off of his shoulder and went in for the kill. Darren grabbed Steve's arms and pulled him back with as much strength as he could muster.

Darren walked over to the man and pulled him out of the toilet water inaudibly while having a still-too-angry Steve gazing over at him.

He felt relieved when he felt a pulse coming from the man, but at the same time, disgusted. He couldn't stop thinking about what could have been.

Fighting off any fury that would surely overcome him, he walked over to Steve and looked at the bloody and watery scene around them.

On the outside, Steve was looking angry and determined but on the inside he felt just the opposite. He could have killed that man. No, he _wanted_ to kill him. Maybe everyone was right. Maybe he was evil.

"We should go…" Darren whispered, interrupting the trance that Steve was in.

Nodding briefly, the two boys walked out of the bathroom and headed for wherever life would take them next, knowing that they would never forget that day.

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><p><strong>I really don't know when I'll be posting the next part but... Yeah! RR please? **


	2. Part II

_**Why Steve Leonard Liked Valentine's Day**_

**I do not own any of Mr. Shan's characters! **

**Part II**

**_Sorry if there are any errors! I typed this up as quickly as I could since I only had a two hour limit. Anyway, enjoy!_**

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><p>It appeared as though life had taken them to the park. Both boys, thoroughly shaken, sat next to each other on the swings with the breeze whispering through their hair, as if trying to reassure them that harm wouldn't come in their way there.<p>

"Darren, how did this happen? Who was that guy?" Steve asked with a suspiciously choking voice. Darren froze. Steve _never _cried!

"Are you crying, Steve?" asked Darren carefully.

Steve scoffed and frantically wiped at his eyes. _Ah, so that's why my eyes were going blurry. _

"No. Just, answer the question, Darren."

"Steve, I-I don't know. I was following you because I knew that you weren't heading for class. I wanted to know where you were going," Darren took a deep breath then continued warily, "It's not good to skip class, you know?"

Steve snorted softly.

"Then I passed the restrooms and I felt someone grab me and, well, you came in after a while and here we are." Darren finished.

It made absolutely no _sense_.

"I think you do know who he is, Darren. I mean, why else would some... Some GUY just GRAB YOU?" He hadn't meant to yell. He was just so angry!

Darren cringed and Steve instantly felt guilty. He wanted to go over and embrace his best friend.. _OR_ Hold him in his arms until everything would be all right, but if he did that, Darren would most assuredly freak out.

"I'm sorry."

For the second time, Darren froze. He looked over at Steve and saw that his best friend was biting his lip nervously while looking at his shoes, the ground, or perhaps the ant that happened to be scuttling by while trying to avoid their gigantic towers called... Legs.

And while Darren stared at those lips, Steve happened to look up and they both locked eyes. Steve broke the contact first and laughed.

"Look at us, getting all worked up over something... Stupid." His eyes shone with something that Darren couldn't quite place, again.

"Yeah, we must look pretty dumb, huh? How about we go home, Steve? Mom and dad are still at work and they won't be back until five. Annie doesn't get home until three. We can play video games and eat chips," offered Darren.

This was so unlike Darren. Skip _school? _Eat chips AND play video games while no one was home?

Perhaps he was finally rubbing off on Darren. Steve hoped it wasn't the latter.. He liked Darren the way he was, thank you very much.

Steve nodded then hopped off the swing

However, as they both walked to Darren's home, Steve could only think of one thing. Darren had said, 'let's go home'. To him.

_Home. _

Admittedly, he'd never seen his own home as a _true _home. Perhaps Darren had said that because he thought of a memory.

Steve smiled at that particular memory. They both were around eleven or twelve, so young and still innocent. Steve, not so much because he did manage to steal a couple of comic books that week but he skipped over that minor detail.

Oh, how his life had changed drastically that year. It was around the time of Valentine's Day and his mother and brought, yet again, another man home. Steve thought that this man was like every other man that was brought over, but he was quite different. He believed in punishment and Steve had a smart mouth. The two things did not mix well and truth be told, Steve barely got out alive. He had scrambled out of his window and ran to Darren's home around ten at night. From there, he climbed Darren's tree and threw pebbles, three to be exact, at his window.

The look of surprise and glee on his young Darren's face was worth so much and Steve instantly felt better. He signaled for his young friend to open the window. A couple of seconds later, Steve carefully hopped onto the edge of the roof and into the window with the help of Darren.

"Hi, Darren."

He smiled into the darkness and watched him cautiously for his reaction. The young Steve expected many things, one of them being that he be kicked out by Darren's mother, or at least told to go home by Darren.

Even so, he did not expect to be abruptly hugged fiercely by his dark haired friend. Steve closed his eyes and practically melted into his arms. Together, they stayed embraced for a long time, until Darren took Steve's hand and walked him over to his bed.

Steve remembered swallowing nervously because he was expecting to see Mrs. Shan walk in at any minute. But she did not. Darren pulled over the covers and smiled nervously at Steve. He climbed into the bed and patted the space next to him. Accepting the invitation, Steve unzipped his jacket and peeled off his shoes then climbed right after Darren.

For a moment, Steve laid in the bed stiffly. He wasn't _used _to this kind of affection. It felt so odd to be wanted.

But he loved it, and he latched onto that feeling for as long as he could. He turned to face his best friend and smiled a skittish smiled like Darren, and reached for his friend's hand. When he had finally found it, he locked fingers with Darren and closed his eyes with the image of his best pal in mind.

Somewhere else, possibly paradise, he felt a brief, soft kiss on his cheek, a warm "Hello" next to his ear, and felt a warmth surrounding him as the mattress creaked. He felt so peaceful.

Waking up the following morning had been indescribable. His eyes slowly opened and dark brown hair made up most of what he saw. Scrolling his eyes further down, he came upon the sleeping form of Darren. Their arms and legs were intertwined intricately and the blankets were quite a mess yet somehow, their hands were still connected.

But, like most things in life, all good things must come to end.

The sun was quickly approaching and he regretfully let go of Darren's hand. The moment he so, bright green eyes met his own eyes. His hand was caught again in the other's.

"Where're you goin'?" asked the sleepy Darren who shuffled closer, obviously seeking warmth.

Steve laughed faintly and answered, "I have to go home, Darren."

"But this is your home."

Steve closed his eyes and squeezed Darren's hand gently. He murmured a soft, "Thank you," sighed, then stepped out of the bed lithely, trying not to create much noise as he threw on his shoes.

"Y'know, you're like a leopard, Steve. You're so fast," Darren yawned before continuing, "and when you move, you almost don't make any noise..." Steve turned around and looked down at a thoroughly _'just woke up so I'm rambling nonsense'_ Darren.

"See you at school, Shan."

With one last lingering look at his green-eyed friend, he walked over to the window and unlocked the same window that he had come in through. Steve jumped to the branch, but not before he heard the words "My leopard" somewhere behind him. He looked back at Darren's window and sniggered lightheartedly.

It was only when he was one street away from his house, that he remembered that he had left his jacket at Darren's home.

When he arrived at school and went to his locker, he was greeted with his blue jacket and a sticky note with the word 'Leopard' scribbled on it.

From then on, he was referred to as Steve Leopard.

"Steve? _Steve? _ Hello? You in there?" Darren cleared his throat loudly, "YO, LEOPARD."

Said leopard cleared his head then played along with Darren by adding a deep voiced, "Yo, Shan."

They both laughed their way home while cracking jokes and bringing up old memories about the substitute teacher in sixth grade and how Steve made her life a living hell.

When they arrived at the Shan residence, Darren skipped, actually _skipped, _to the potted plant on the left and pulled out a key with a smug smile.

"Nice prancing, Shan."

"Shush, you."

Darren fumbled with the door by adding a mindless "Bloody door, always getting jammed," then finally opened it. It had been a while since Steve had last come to Darren's home so he looked around for a bit.

Steve unzipped his jacket and placed it on the coat hanger then spotted the pictures that were placed on the fireplace.

_Hmm. This is new. _

From the left, he could see a picture of a spaghetti-covered toddler, most likely Darren. The eyes were so bright and they looked quite eager as they most likely looked up camera. The next picture was of Annie Shan sitting on what appeared to be a picnic blanket.

She was an understanding girl, really. Steve remembered spending an afternoon with the girl when Darren was at the park. She seemed to _get _him and he suddenly found himself telling her everything. Her soft eyes didn't shine with sympathy, thank goodness, but they were very passionate and altruistic.

"I'm glad Darren has you as a friend, Steve." she admitted quietly.

Steve directed his smile at her, then he vowed to himself that he would always watch out for her, not only for Darren's sake, but because he grew to love the little girl like a sister.

Next to Annie, was perhaps the image that would be found underneath the word 'Family' in the dictionary.

The Shan family smiled their best of smiles and wore clothing that complimented each of them in their own way, while still managing to look like a whole. Mrs. Shan had always held herself with grace and everything about her yelled sophistication. Despite of that, she did indeed have a sense of humor and he briefly remembered a time when he had made her laugh.

He felt so accomplished that day.

Mr. Shan on the other hand was a disheveled man. His hair was tossed artfully and his eyes crinkled and shone as if he knew something that the others' did not. Whenever Mr. Shan entered the room, everyone straightened up. His presence brought on a certain importance and it felt great to be in his presence. Steve rarely saw the man but he knew that the man was intelligent. In fact, he remembered sneaking into the office of Mr. Shan with Darren to get a couple of mints. In that office, he saw many maps and letters placed onto the wall in a way that would probably only make sense to the man. It amazed Steve at how much Darren looked like Mr. Shan. They both had the same smile and the bedraggled appearance that only Mr. Shan could work properly and Darren could only hope of achieving one day.

Following Mr. Shan was Darren and his eyes seemed to shine with pride as he looked up at his mother and father in the photo. Annie, on the other hand, appeared to be stifling her tinkle-like laugh with a hand as she looked at the camera. Separately, they looked incomplete, but together, they looked like a whole.

Looking at Mr. Shan and Darren again, Steve wondered if maybe he looked like his father. If they both had the same facial features or at least laughed the same way...

Before he could get further into his thoughts, he looked at the last photo.

There were two young boys standing closely next to each other. One had an arm over the other's shoulder and the other was carrying a trophy with a small soccer ball on the top. They both shared a cheeky grin, seeing as they had just won the game.

They both looked so juvenile and happy.

Steve turned around to look for his best friend.

"Darren?"

"In here!" called Darren who came into view as he walked into the kitchen.

"What're you doing, Shan?" Steve sniffed at the air once and smirked, "You're making your secret pasta recipe that you won't tell me for some unknown reason, aren't you?"

His dark-haired friend looked up from a book and beamed, "Well, yes, but if the school calls and my mom answers the phone she won't get _that _mad because I've made dinner... Right?"

"Nice thinking, Shan. But, you know, your mom might not even say anything if you make those breadsticks and the creamy sauce to go along with it." Steve teased and leaned back against the sink and chuckled when he saw Darren roll his eyes at him.

Darren opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. He hopped off his stool and looked at the caller ID.

"Is it the school, Shan?" Steve knew that it couldn't be, it was too early. Maybe it was a neighbor that had spotted them and was curious? _Oh, hell. _

"No... I don't know who it is. It says 'Private Number'," said Darren, shakily. No doubt thinking of the bathroom incident.

"Want me to answer?" offered Steve. Darren shook his head and answered.

"Hello?"

Steve occupied himself with poking at the boiling noodles but stopped when he heard Darren take a sharp intake of breath and grasp the counter.

"Darren? Who is it?"

Darren stared at him with wide eyes. His face was pale and he seemed to be shaking a bit. With a somewhat small voice, he said, "It's.. He's asking for you, Steve."

Steve narrowed his eyes at the phone and instantly thought of the man and turned furious quickly. He yanked the phone from Darren's hand. He hadn't meant to be forceful but he was angry. "What do you want?" asked a valiant Steve, his voice never wavering.

On the other end, he could hear slow, deep breathing then a rumbling laughter. "Yes, this is him." More laughter. There were others.

"Who are you?" Steve gripped the counter himself. He felt.. Unnerved. This was out of his league. "Were you the man in the restroom?"

"No, I am not that man. None of us are. Do not worry about who I am, Leonard. We will see each other soon." _Shit._

"Look, if it's money that you want, I don't have any. I don't know what my mom has done to you, because I sure as hell haven't done anything to you, but you need to leave us the fuck alone." Steve snarled. He shut his eyes then turned away from Darren by walking towards the window before continuing, "And if you hurt Darren, I'll hunt you down and _kill_ you myself. I wouldn't even hesitate to do so. Do you hear me?"

"We hear you and believe you, Leonard. We we will not hurt him. You will do that on your own. The reason that we contacted you was so that you could," a pause, "Familiarize yourself with fire. Good-bye."

Steve faintly heard the sound of the phone disconnecting or felt Darren prying the phone away from his hand. His eyes opened and it truly felt as though time had frozen. Everything shifted. What had once been there, a somewhat calming routine, felt like it wasn't there anymore. He had been sitting with Darren, conversing about breadsticks when the phone call came in and just like that, his life spun around. Steve felt a sense of unknowing duty now and he didn't know why. His breathing began to quicken and his eyes traveled everywhere. From the kitchen cabinets, to the toaster on the counter, then to the wide green eyes. Darren. The man said that _he, _Steve Leonard, would hurt Darren.

He wouldn't just, couldn't. He would never hurt Darren, his best friend, on purpose. The boy whom he practically grew up with and protected each and every time? How did this happen? Was it all slowly building up until this moment? Was there more to come?

"Steve? Steve?" He felt a pair of hands on either side of his shoulders, holding him and shaking him a bit. Steve cupped Darren's face with his hands carefully and ignored the look that Darren was giving him. He trailed his fingers along the jawline and around the corner of those lips. As he moved his fingers down to his neck, he leaned into the lush mass of dark brown hair and breathed in the scent, memorizing it, before whispering, "I'll be back later, Darren, if you want me to." He felt Darren's breathing hitch when as he lightly nipped an earlobe, before retreating.

"I want you to."

Steve nodded and he walked out of the kitchen, into the hall to grab his jacket, then finally out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm. <strong>


	3. Part III

_**Why Steve Leonard Liked Valentine's Day**_

_**I do not own any of Mr. Shan's characters **_

**Part III**

* * *

><p>It was another dark night and it was cold. It always was cold. The goosebumps trailed along his arms and they never seemed to fade away. He tried not to pay attention to them but it was as if they were mocking him. He tied his blanket in a knot with a few collective items and placed it in his large pockets. His heavy boots chanted with the low wind blowing in the countryside as the stars kept him company. Hopping over the wooden fence, he walked through the green ocean of reminders. Through the darkness he could just barely make out the shape of a tree. It had begun.<p>

_From the first tree, take ninety-seven steps forward_. He trudged up the hill, kicking rocks down on the way. They tumbled down slowly; everything went by slowly here. The beginnings of roots swirling in and out of the ground in particular patterns. He counted the roots. _Eleven. _Retreating back eleven steps, he found himself in a circle of pebbles. _Eighteen. _He took the pebbles and placed them in a pile, where he proceeded to kick them. Tumbling down, they went.

The breeze licked his grown hair in a swirl towards the left. Turning, he ran West, away from the now rising sun. He followed the moon, now. _Thirty-two. _He came to an abrupt forest. Upon entering, he realized that he had two choices; left or right. Closing his eyes and listening to the soft whisper of voices in his head, he went to the right. His hands felt along the wall for marks. Like always, they were there. _Nine._

Every time he hit that last mark, it came. He did not know what it was for it did not feel like it was from this world. Yet, it felt familiar. He always had the itching curiosity to turn around and face it. His influence would suggest otherwise. He continued forward until it finally caught up to him. He could sense it now, walking behind him. Getting closer. Closer.

The steps. He was almost there. He hadn't made it to the steps last time. _Thirteen. _He could do it. Skipping steps two or three at a time, and he could feel it's state of existence getting stronger and dragging him down. It felt like a magnet. The walls began to glow red. A couple of more steps. He closed his eyes as his right foot stepped up onto the platform and his left foot slipped. He was being _dragged. _He'd never been dragged before. What would happen if he got caught? He clung onto the last step and pulled himself up again. There was pain everywhere in his body. He gritted his teeth and finally opened his eyes.

The room was dark except for the long black box that seemed to glow a harsh red. He could still feel the ungodly presence of what wished to drag him down again. The closer he got to the box, the more confident he felt. He looked at the room around him and tried to make out what was surrounding him. He could feel eyes of other's on him but he could not see anything. When he was at least a foot away from the sleek box, his hand hovered over it. He hesitated. With one finger, he lightly drew a line down the middle of the long, smooth surface.

The box seemed to take shape of something else and the lid opened. The glow became brighter and he looked up from the box. The eyes of the other's were now revealed. Their eyes were red and they all held a speculative and an expecting gaze. If it weren't for the box in front of him, he would probably have been afraid but there was something about it that looked so inviting. It was as if it was calling him by his name, or offering him sleep after many sleepless nights. Food after days of voraciousness.

He saw a small footstool by the box and he used it to provide him help. He climbed into the box and laid back.

It was only when he was in it that he realized that it wasn't a box at all. It was a coffin. When he tried to climb back out, he was restrained by the heavy presence. It did not appear to have a face, it was a shadow. He could feel hatred rolling off from it in large waves. But before he could feel confusion, the lid shut and he came face to face with a wooden pattern. The pattern seemed so familiar.

Looking at it more carefully, he saw that it had small images. Memories? A code?

He never did get to figure out the pattern because, without any warning, a brilliantly gold fire broke out inside of the coffin. It was an excruciating inferno.

The pain was unimaginable. He felt his blood boil and his skin melt. His lungs were no longer functioning or maybe he was in the the in-between of life and death. He screamed, and screamed until he could no more.

However, just as he was about to close his eyes, the gold turned into an azure and the treacherous flames cooled his skin. He could breathe and his burning marks faded. He lifted his hand to his face and stroke in amazement as his skin became firm again.

As quickly as the flames came, they left and the coffin lid was opened. He looked up and could see nothing, but he was no longer restrained. He stepped out of the coffin and faced the eyes.

"Well done, Mr. Leonard."

He bowed courteously to the deep voice of one of the red eyes. Somewhere beyond them, he could see someone. He was taller, his eyes were just like them, his smile was almost maniacal, and his hair was a disarray.

There was a glimmer in that someone that told him that it was a reflection.

It was him.

Someone came and put a dark heavy cloak around him and lead him out of the room. The presence, or whatever it had been, was pressed against the wall and appeared as if it was watching him aprehensively. Everyone around him shared the same look as the dark shadow.

His heart was pumping so quickly and he felt _power _running through his veins.

He absolutely loved it.

* * *

><p>Waking up was always the worse part of the day for Steve. Besides the fact that he felt groggy most mornings, it was the dreams that made him feel confused and irritated. It was unfailingly revealing new items every time he fell asleep. Sighing, he shifted his position on the itchy haystack so as to avoid the stream of light coming in through the holes of the old barn.<p>

Giving up after many attempts to finding a comfortable spot, he rolled off of the haystack and walked over to the wooden water barrel. The reflection from the water disclosed a very tired looking teenager, indeed. Yet, he was glad that his eyes weren't red or that any other oddities were wrong with him. He undressed and stepped into what one would call, a walk in shower. In reality it was simply a long pipe that had vial for cold water only, and was connected to the barrel. To get the water through, he had to pump it manually while showering. Steve built it himself and he was quite proud of it.

Scrubbing furiously and quickly with a bar of soap, he splashed himself again with more water and dried himself up with a towel. He put on his clothing, boots, his hat and was ready for the day.

Steve put the towel out to dry and grabbed two buckets. His morning routine was pretty much the same. Wake up, shower, and take the buckets to the lake to fill up the barrel. From there, it was pretty much whatever his aunt requested. Steve opened the doors and dawdled to the lake where he continued with his pattern. After coming back and forth for three times, he finally headed to the main house and entered as quietly as possible.

"Aunt Eva?"

"In the kitchen, Steve! Do watch your step! I dropped a glass of Orange Juice and some shards of glass still may be on that ground."

_In that case..._ Steve went into the small cupboard and pulled out a broom dustpan. He proceeded to picking up any glass remnants (which were quite a lot) and dumped it in the trash.

"Oh! Good, Steve. I was going to do that after breakfast. How did you sleep?" Steve walked into the kitchen now and quickly pecked her on the cheek. He adored everything about his aunt. Her hair was braided in a long, soft, silky waterfall of raven hair and everything about her yelled was so... Free. She wore soft colors and clothing that flowed. One time, it was around April, he was up on the roof of the barn and he happened to see his Aunt walking around. Steve hadn't meant to spy but he really was curious about her. She seemed to be wearing a rope-type dress and was chatting with a very tall man. Not wanting to get caught, he creeped back into the window from the roof and read one of his comic books.

But the strangest thing about her, was her eyes. He could have _sworn _that the green eye was on the left yesterday, not the right! He always shrugged it off as exhaustion.

Besides that, her generosity was what he most liked about her, though. He hadn't met a person like that in a long time. Not since... Darren.

He thought back to Valentine's Day... How he simply left everything behind, including Darren. Darren, the most important person in his life. It had been eleven months since he last saw him. Actually, a little over eleven months. Not that he was keeping track or anything. He missed him.

When he left Darren's home, he went to his own house, packed as much as he could in a raggedy knapsack and headed out west. He didn't have a destination in mind but it sure was much easier to discover that he had an aunt where he was headed. At first, she wasn't very willing to let him stay, but after convincing her and offering his services to her, she accepted on one condition.

That he sleep in the barn.

Of course, he agreed to her condition and he found himself growing to the woman. It was still shocking to see that she and his mother were related. They were so _different. I_n fact, he suspected that she wasn't even his Aunt at all. But he didn't call her up on it, at all. He simply accepted it and continued to live in the barn. She taught him a lot, from making delicious meals from just vegetables, to making tea.

"I slept okay. The sun was kind of getting in the way. Actually, uh, I was thinking if I could get up on the roof of the barn and fix it. Could I, Aunt Eva?" explained Steve.

The vegetarian eyed Steve through her curious eyes, then said, "Of course, Steve but you will need supplies. I will give you money and you can go over to the farm next door. They sell wood and nails and all that you need there, okay? Steve," she paused, watching how quickly he stood up after having said that, and laughed lightly, "you can go _after _you eat your breakfast."

_I need you to be strong, Steve... _She mentioned mostly to herself as she watched the poor boy with sad eyes as he poured himself a glass of homemade almond milk.

* * *

><p>As soon as he finished with his breakfast, his Aunt Eva gave him cash and he walked to the next farm. To say that it was close, was a lie. Driving there might've taken ten minutes, top. Walking was an hour and something minutes. He also wanted to ask Eva if he could borrow her truck, but he knew that she'd say no, because he very well could not drive.<p>

So there he was, walking by the fields of grass that seemed endless like the ocean, but were only interrupted by the loud croaking of several frogs. Hell, the grass even _rolled _like waves. But, it was the shade of green that bothered him the most. Steve never thought that he'd see that exact same hue of green but there it was. It was everywhere. Just like Darren. His thoughts were always consumed by his best friend.

At times he got very desperate to go back and protect him from, well, anything! Steve just _knew _that he was a danger. He didn't know how, but that phone call and the dreams that he had been having were somehow all connected back to Darren. Something was not right here.

Was the bathroom incident really _just _a coincidence? It sure wasn't likely. Things like that didn't happen with out any reason, usually. So, who was he and why would he do that?

Steve found himself asking those questions over and over again in his mind and he never came to a conclusion. The man on the phone said that they weren't even the same people, but he could be lying. Why would he lie, though? Was he afraid? It wasn't as if Darren knew where they were anyway and surely they knew that. However, he was known for be very... Determined. If he put his mind to it, he could figure it out. They probably left a long time ago so what was the point?

Unlike the other times, Steve thought further into the problem almost a year ago. He usually just shrugged it off and sought for his Aunt to see if she needed any help, but here, he was left to his thoughts. Had something happened that week? Had Darren made someone angry?

Had he, himself, angered somebody? _That_ was more likely. He didn't think... Wait-

Nick. The park.

_Oh, hell. _

Could Nick have an older brother? Now, that was likely. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Oh, yes, that's right. He was too busy thinking about the weekend he would be spending with Darren. Perhaps Nick told his older sibling and then the man had taken it upon himself to injure Darren. Why Darren, though?

_It should've been me. I was the one who hurt Nick, _thought Steve.

Nothing made sense anymore. He was sick of it! As a matter of fact, as soon as he finished with the roof, he'd go straight to his Aunt and give her the news.

It was decided then. He'd go back home tomorrow. He'd see Darren.

When Steve passed the edges of his Aunt's farm, and entered into the neighbor's farm, he felt an adjustment in the air. He passed it off as the wind.

For the rest of the journey, he thought about his best friend.

* * *

><p><strong>I never expected the story to go through this route... I imagined something different. 4 AM tea can do strange things to the human mind. <strong>

**That, and music. **

**I know that this was quite short but it felt like an appropriate place to stop... D'you know what I mean? **

**The next part might take a while! Or perhaps not. I need to go somewhere to think and maybe the inspiration will strike me. :) **

**Please R/R (don't be shy!) and if you've got any great music that inspires you that you'd like to recommend, please do. **

**Thank-you. **


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